Yao Ming calls for end to ivory purchases

Retired Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming is seen during an event calling for the public to stop buying ivory and rhino horn productson in Shanghai, Dec 6, 2013. [Photo/Icpress.cn]

Retired Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming appealed to the public to stop buying ivory and rhino horn products on Friday in Shanghai.

At the Friday event, the ambassador of international conservation group WildAid, along with group founder Peter Knights, also debuted an elephant-protection video that featured Yao, Britain's Prince William and soccer star David Beckham.

In the short video, which was less than 30 seconds long, the three fathers called for the public to stop buying ivory products so their kids and others’ can still see the majestic animals in the wild.

“If we want to protect endangered species … public awareness is more important than any kind of ban imposed by the government,” Yao said at the event.

According to the San Francisco-based organization, each year, more than 25,000 elephants die from poachers taking their tusks.

In a survey jointly conducted by Wild Aid and research organization HorizonKey, which interviewed 961 residents in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, more than half of the interviewees said they don't consider poaching of elephants to be common, and 49 percent of those surveyed in Beijing said they believe ivory is obtained from elephants that die naturally.

China has been one of the largest consumers of ivory in the world.